One of the most challenging exercises for an Artist is rendering the human form from a live model. The exercise can range from quick 30-60 second poses where the artist works quickly and expressively to capture the gesture of the pose, to long poses–up to several hours for a detailed study. These two sketches displayed here are around 1.5 hours, the model works in 15-20 minute segments with breaks before resuming the pose. I typically begin the sketch with a stick of charcoal on medium toned paper, then use conte’ crayon for a little color and white charcoal for hi-lites.
These studies can be used to produce more finished paintings in the studio or just displayed as is. Some artists work the live pose with oil paint or watercolor. It is an exercise practice, like learning a musical instrument or a physical discipline. Classical artists study human anatomy from the inside out. First, you learn the skeleton and proportions, then all the muscles before moving on to the subtleties of composition, light, and shadow.
